What's New in Ourtext - August, 2010

Merton Music is finally online!

The 2010 list has been fully integrated into the website catalogue. All Merton's repertoire can now be ordered online for a faster service. Prices, never high, have not risen for eight years, and now represent almost unbelievable value.

Many of Merton's titles can now be viewed on IMSLP's website. But please be aware that those files come from Merton's archives, and do not reflect the improvements - sometimes considerable - that Ourtext has since made to the legibility and accuracy of the files.

In our online catalogue we have tried to be informative about anything in facsimile editions that we think may cause you difficulty, from unimprovable print quality to problematic archaic notation. If in doubt about anything, do feel free to contact us.

Ourtext Educational is also making its first appearance in the catalogue. There is a selection of the more approachable pieces from the Merton list together with ensemble music from Ourtext's own archives.

With teachers in mind, we have also added a selection of the pieces produced by Ourtext for use in the Beginning Violin and Viola classes at the City Literary Institute in London. Starting with plucking open strings, each study limits what students are required to do, so as to concentrate on a single technical task. They all come with an accompaniment - in these versions written for piano - so that students can enjoy being part of a musical experience long before they're able to play melodies.

Meanwhile, Ourtext's newest contemporary publication, the prizewinning work Dreams by American composer Rachel Matthews, can be enjoyed on Youtube, which has the video recording made at this year's International Viola Congress, with Scott Slapin on viola and the composer at the piano. It's a truly lovely work, beautifully performed.

That's the news for now. To go to the catalogue please click here.